cover image Abby Finds Her Calling

Abby Finds Her Calling

Naomi King. New American Library, $15 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-451-23573-2

The Amish also live in Missouri, jah, where King (Summer of Secrets) sets her new series, Home at Cedar Creek. A wedding is called off when bride Suzanna Lambright goes missing, and her older sister Abby must deliver the bad news to bridegroom James Graber, whom Abby secretly loves. When Zanna returns and discloses why she left, her family and the rest of the community must decide how to live with her and what she has done. The plot is Amish-simple. What distinguishes this from many other Amish romances is how it shows that forbearance and forgiveness take a good deal of work, and the Amish, like everybody else, gossip, bicker, and sometimes have less-than-ideal family lives. While some developments strain credulity, King has created enough open-ended characters to entice the reader back to Cedar Creek for more. Agent: Evan Marshall. (Mar.)